judgecorp writes: "Google Maps could be banned in Germany over a patent which Microsoft owns. Several mobile makers pay royalties to Microsoft over a patent which describes a "computer system for identifying local resources", and sued Motorola Mobility when it didn't pay up. When Motorola passed the buck to Google, the suit expanded, and now Google Maps is potentially banned in Germany. Unless Google pays, or appeals successfully, the service will have to be blocked (by parental controls style filters) on phones, and in browsers like Google's Chrome."